Dr Johnson Xuesong Shen
Associate Professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Research interests
Digital Twins and As-Built Building Information Modelling (BIM)
Construction Automation and Robotics
Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Engineering Applications
Mobile Mapping with Light Detection and Ranging Technique (LiDAR)
Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) in Civil and Mining Applications
Emissions and Fuel Consumption Modelling of Construction Machinery
Courses taught
CVEN4102 Operations and Projects
CVEN9723 Design of Construction Operations
News and media coverage
2019-01-17: ABC News - Interview on Elon Musk's $1 Billion Blue Mountains Tunnel
2019-01-17: ABC Radio Sydney - Interview on Sydney Metro TBM Tunnel Construction
2019-02-07: UNSW CVEN - When a tunnel is not at all boring
2017-07-08: 9 News Sydney - Super drone
2017-05-24: UNSW Newsroom - Autonomous 3D mapping drone is a game changer
2017-05-23: NSW Department of Industry - TechConnect Global and Arludo showcase technologies
2016-11-14: UNSW CVEN - Inspiring Learning
2016-10-19: UNSW CVEN - State of the art construction model labs
2015-03-19: UNSW CVEN - Awards for Teaching Excellence
2017-07-21: UNSW CIES - Autonomous 3D mapping drone is a game changer
2017-06-23: Spatial Source - It’s here: 3D surveying in real-time with UAV-based LiDAR
2017-05-29: UNSW CVEN - Is it a bird? Is it a plane?
2017-05-26: Australian Mining - UNSW develops autonomous 3D mapping drone
2017-05-25: Engineers Australia - Autonomous 3D mapping drone improves speed of asset surveys
2017-05-23: UNSW Engineering - Unlimited potential for real-time 3D laser surveying drone
2016-09-22: UNSW CVEN - Catching up with the UAVs
Awards
Top 10 Best Conference Papers, the 32nd International Symposium on Automation and Robotics in Construction and Mining (ISARC2015), Finland, 2015
Vice Chancellor's Award for Teaching Excellence (Led by Prof. D. Carmichael), UNSW Australia, 2014
Best PhD Student Paper Award, the 13th International Conference on Construction Applications of Virtual Reality (CONVR), UK, 2013
Postdoctoral Fellowship, University of Alberta, NSERC & TECTERRA, Canada, 2011-2013
Best Paper Award, the 2010 Construction Research Congress (CRC2010), ASCE, Canada, 2010
Most Cited Paper, Automation in Construction (Q1), Elsevier, 2007-2012
Recent research grants
2022-2027: Australian Research Council (ARC), RG203977 & RG213098 (CIs: Prof. N. Khalili, Prof. S. Zlatanova, A/Prof. X. Shen, et al., Key Industry Partner: Linke & Linke Surveys), "ARC Industry Transformation Research Hub on Resilient and Intelligent Infrastructure Systems (RIIS) in Urban, Resources and Energy Sectors", $5,980,000
2023: Australian Department of Industry, Innovation and Science - Innovation Connections Program, RG230299 (CIs: A/Prof. X. Shen, Dr. K. Barati, and A/Prof. C. Wang, Industry Partner: KMK Property Solutions), "Advanced Manufacturing of Sustainable Buildings Using Prefabricated Modular Panels", $100,000
2018-2020: UNSW Contract Research, RG181841 (CIs: Dr. X. Shen and Prof. D. Carmichael, Industry Partner: Linke & Linke Surveys), "Evaluating Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) Sensors for Construction Mapping", $100,000
2018-2019: NSW Department of Industry – Boosting Business Innovation Program, RG182102 & RG161881AA (CIs: Dr. X. Shen and Prof. D. Carmichael, Industry Partner: Smart Welding Solutions), "Construction Drilling Robot", $30,000
2017: NSW Department of Industry – Boosting Business Innovation Program, RG171715 & RG161881-F (CI: Dr. X. Shen, Industry Partner: Linke & Linke Surveys), "Real-time and Autonomous 3D Mapping of Construction Projects using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) based Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technique", $30,000
2017-2018: Australian Coal Association Research Program (ACAPR), C26030 (CIs: Dr A. Simit, Dr. X. Shen, Dr. H. Masoumi, and Prof. M. Schwensen), "Improved Structural Mapping of Pit Walls Using UAV Based Mobile Laser Scanning", $96,068
2014-2017: CRC for Low Carbon Living, RP1020 (CIs: Prof. S. Foster, Prof. J. Sanjayan, and A/Prof. A. Castel), "Performance based Criteria for Concretes: Creating Pathways for Low Carbon Concrete Manufacture with Existing Standards", $585,161
2014: UNSW Faculty Research Grant, “Integrated Machine Control and Guidance for Tunnel Construction in Curved Alignment”, $29,374
Recent learning and teaching grants
UNSW Learning and Teaching Innovation Grant, SEF#4 (with Prof. D. Carmichael), "Get Your Hands Dirty: Enhancing Learning Experience through Undertaking Scaled Construction Projects in Laboratory", 2015, $50,000
Students
Number currently in lab: 9 PhD Candidates
Student Projects:
2017-2020: 3D Classification and Semantic Segmentation for Construction Jobsites based on Deep Learning
PhD Student: Yongzhi Xu
2014-2017: Emissions Modelling of Construction Equipment through Field Data Measurement
PhD Student: Khalegh Barati
2016-2019: Unmanned Aerial Vehicle-based LiDAR Mapping for Forest Fuel Loading Estimation
PhD Student: Li Liu (Joint supervised with A/Prof. Samsung Lim in Surveying and Geospatial Engineering)
2014-2017: Vision-based Pose Estimation and Self-calibration for UAV Photogrammetry
PhD Student: Mohammad Ridhwan Tamjis (Joint supervised with A/Prof. Samsung Lim in Surveying and Geospatial Engineering)
2014-2016: Serviceability and Durability Investigation of Geopolymer Concrete with Embedded Sensors
MEng Student: Jerry Jin Dang
Looking for students for projects related to:
Machine Learning in Industrial and Engineering Applications
Automated As-built Modelling
Multi-sensor Integration for UAV Mapping
Vision & LiDAR SLAM
Photogrammetry and UAV LiDAR Scanning
Structural Health Monitoring
Fuel Consumption Modelling of Construction Machinery
Tunnelling Machine Control and Guidance
Wall Penetrating Radar for Non-destructive Utility Mapping
Proactive Construction Safety Management
Professional organisations
Treasurer and Executive Committee Member, International Association for Automation and Robotics in Construction (IAARC)
Associate Member, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
Member, Australian Network of Structural Health Monitoring (ANSHM)
Member, Australasian Tunnelling Society (ATS)
Education
Ph.D. (Construction Engineering and Management), The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong
- Publications
- Media
- Grants
- Awards
- Research Activities
- Engagement
- Teaching and Supervision